The tribal people of interior villages of this mandal in the Agency areas of the district were full of hope as Collector Praveen Kumar visited their area for the first time on Saturday.
They welcomed him traditionally by beating the drums, presenting Dhimsa dance and applying tilak on his forehead. When he settled down on the floor to know their problems and the progress of various ongoing development works, they poured out their woes. The inspection must have come as a shocker for the Collector as some of the villages had no approach road and some of the winding kutcha roads, which go up and down the hills, are a big risk for even motorcyclists.
The Collector had to leave his car at Guntaseema and pillion ride on a motorcycle to Tadda village, about five km, passing through the kutcha road full of pebbles and sloping down sharp curves.
At Tadda, Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group (PVTG) village, Mr. Praveen Kumar inspected an Anganwadi centre and digging of the ground for construction of a water treatment plant. He enquired about the poor attendance at the Anganwadi Centre and the absence of some children. One of the villagers brought to his notice about the fraud in the distribution of DWCRA loans in 2012 and housing loans at Tadda village around the same time.
The cashier of SBI branch at Kinhumanda allegedly siphoned off of the funds sanctioned to the beneficiaries by forging their signatures.
The Collector ordered that the amount be recovered from the bank under the Revenue Recovery Act and justice done to the beneficiaries in three months.
To visit every month
At Guntaseema, the Collector sat down along with the students of classes 9th and 10th on their benches as ITDA Project Officer Ravi Patttanshetty tested the knowledge of the students in mathematics and other subjects. He pulled up the school teachers and headmaster for their poor performance. Later, Mr. Pravin Kumar said: “This visit has given me an insight into the mismatch between demand and supply and hereafter I plan to visit the interior villages once a month”.
